Artist: Nightwish 
   Title: Dark Passion Play
   Label: Nuclear Blast

When the announcement that Tarja had been sacked as vocalist from the band in 2005 (has it really been that long?), the metal world was agog with the news and wondered if this spelt the end of Nightwish as a band.  But the old adage of one person doesn’t make a band and Thomas, Emppu, Marco and Jukka were set on keeping the band going and soon set about finding a replacement for Tarja.  The speculations of who would be her replacement over took most of the metal forums with various names being bantered about, many thought it could be a total unknown artist taking up the role.  Then earlier this year the best kept secret in rock was revealed as Anette Olzon was announced as Tarja successor.

Those familiar with Anette’s voice were instantly pointing out that she didn’t have that operatic tone of Tarja and were wondering if she was the right choice.  Well the proof positive would only become apparent when the band released the single 'Amaranth' and Olzon’s vocals behind the Nightwish sound were greeted with an overall favourable reception, with only a few sceptics making their voices heard.

Now the full album is revealed I for one can say that this is indeed a new era for Nightwish and one that I see will more than meet with their fans approval.  The album itself is pure Nightwish with the now trademark film score metal sound, together with a new refreshing vocal talent behind them.

Things get underway with 'The Poet and The Pendulum’, a track that opens up the album well with the usual panache that you'd associate with the band.  Within less than a minute of this epic you are taken aback by Olzon’s vocals and instantly you’ve forgotten Tarja and hailed ... "the queen is dead, long live the queen!" ... such is the performance of Anette's vocals not only on this track, but consistently throughout the entire album.

The album continues to impress with one of my favourite tracks on the album ‘Bye Bye Beautiful’, on which Olzon gets things started then the chorus breaks through with the unmistakable vocals of Marco come belting out their usual angst filled metal tones.  If you listen to the lyrics you can almost say it's aimed at Tarja with lines like ... “Did you ever listen to what we played, did you ever learn what the words said”.  One that the clubs are bound to pick up for their playlist and one that's sure to attract even more hoards of new young fans towards the band.

The new single ‘Amaranth’ is up next, which like 'Eva' the first single highlights Olzon’s vocals and for me truly stamps a seal of approval on the bands choice of new vocalist.

The film score metal that has become part and parcel of the whole Nightwish sound is continues on the excellent ‘Cadence of Her Last Breath’, with Olzon putting in another stirring vocal performance while Marco acts as the beast to her beauty, vocally the two styles compliment each other perfectly.

The band ability to mix orchestration with traditional metal tones has always pushed the boundaries of the genre and this new album is a prime example of this, especially on the thumping ‘Master Passion Greed’ with Marco taking up the mantle of vocalist as he stamps his own passionate metal vibe on the track, and with Emppu spewing out the riffs along with Thomas pushing the keyboards to the limits, this is Nightwish at their very heaviest.

It's time to bring things down a touch with the haunting tones of ‘Eva’, which eases you down from the thrashing metal of the previous track, before the tempo is picked up once again with ‘Sahara’.  This album brings in again those heavy bass tones and mixed with a little Eastern Promise, this rates as another of my favourite tracks on this exceptional release.

‘Whoever Brings The Night’ has a much darker refrain as the double time drums of Jukka and the haunting choral background vocals lay waste to the track and with the heady mix of orchestration and bass mixed with Emppu’s streaming guitars, all go to make this an interesting track for the listener, as every time you listen to it you find out something new about it.

It's back to the more familiar epic tones with ‘For The Heart I Once Had’, this track has all the makings of a classic with Olzon laying down her finest vocal performance so far as she shows both her gentle side and her most powerful in this one awesome track.

The band have always managed to bring some folk elements into their albums over the years and this new album is no different with the almost Jethro Tull styling on ‘The Islander’, with Marco putting a different slant to his vocals as he shows a more gentle side to them and with Anette lending her dulcet tones as backing vocals, this is the surprise package for me and meets with my approval as I like to indulge in a little folk rock now and again just to calm my inner self.

The folk theme is carried on with the Celtic almost Levellers tones of the instrumental ‘Last Of The Wilds’, before the punchy mid tempo excellence of ‘7 Days Of The Wolves’, which combines the vocals of both Anette and Marco as the track evolves into a frenzied rock ensemble of streaming guitars and keyboards with the ever present pounding drums and bass of Jukka and Marco and the fantastic orchestration background which make this an track of epic proportions.

The album closes with ‘Meadows Of Heaven’, a really sombre affair with Olzon putting on another fine vocals performance and with Thomas’s passionate keyboards and Emppu’s soaring guitar work, this one will have those lighters held well and truly aloft if played live.

The band have definitely moved forward with this new album and have taken Anette under their wing.  I think mistakes were made with Tarja and these lessons will have been learned, so let 2007 mark the beginning of a new era for the band and let's hope a full tour will follow this release so we can all put the ghosts of the past behind us and we too can take Anette under our wing as fans.

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